Category: McCain

Raul Grijalva: Good Friend of Communists

On By AZ ConservativeIn America, American Culture, Amnesty, Arizona, Big Abortion, Big Government, Border Invasion, Climate, Congress, Constitution, Corruption, Culture, Democrats, Economics, Economy, Elections, Faith & Freedom, Freedom, Illegal Aliens, Law, Lawelssness, Marxists, McCain, National Defense, Sanctuary cities, Socialism, Socialism, Taxpayers, The Left, UnionsLeave a comment

Raul Grijalva is a long-time Southern Arizona congressman running for re-election in November. 

By Trevor Loudon, Contributing Writer, The Epoch Times

December 26, 2018

Long-time Communist Party USA ally Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) is to chair the critical House Committee on Natural Resources. This position will give Grijalva significant influence over key economic and environmental decisions.

In this position, he will be able to stall and otherwise influence legislation and create major uncertainty for potential infrastructure, natural resource, and energy investors.

Grijalva is so excited about his new post that he has even opted to resign from his influential position as co-chair of the far-left Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Allowing a man with Grijalva’s radical record to wield such influence could have disastrous implications for American jobs and economic growth.

The Early Years

Grijalva foreshadowed his legislative strategy in 2013 when he revealed to In These Times, a Democratic Socialists of America affiliated publication, that “I’m a Saul Alinsky guy,” referring to the “community organizer” who mentored Hillary Clinton and inspired Barack Obama.

But even the Marxist Alinsky wasn’t Grijalva’s most radical influence.

According to a 2009 Center for Immigration Studies memorandum, as a young activist in Tucson, Arizona, Grijalva became a leader in several Marxist-leaning groups including the Chicano Liberation Committee, which pressured the University of Arizona to implement affirmative action for Chicano staff and establish a Mexican-American Studies program.

Grijalva was also active in Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA), which agitated for the return of the “Chicano” areas of the U.S. Southwest to Mexico. The group’s motto was “Por la raza todo, fuera de la raza nada,” which translates to “For the race, everything; outside the race, nothing.”

Grijalva further joined the radical Raza Unida Party. After losing a school board race in 1972, Grijalva dropped some of his revolutionary posing and sought to involve himself in more “mainstream” Democratic Party politics.

In 1993, Grijalva, identified at that time as a member of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, wrote an anti-NAFTA article headlined “North America Needs ‘Fair’ Trade” for the Nov. 13 edition of the Communist Party USA’s newspaper People’s Weekly World (which has since changed its name to People’s World).

Through the 1990s, Grijalva used his Pima County position to assist Communist Party USA-affiliated organizations, such as the Southern Arizona People’s Law Center and the Tucson Tenants Union.

By the early 2000s, Grijalva was ready for the big time, and the Communist Party USA was eager to help.

Communist Party Assistance

According to Tucson Communist Party USA leader Steve Valencia, his mentor—the late Arizona Communist Party USA chair Lorenzo Torrez—was a pioneer in the “struggle” for Mexican-American political representation.

Valencia told People’s World newspaper in 2012, “I always say: Before [Communist Party USA-aligned Democratic Rep.] Ed Pastor and Raul Grijalva, there was Lorenzo Torrez.”

The article continues: “Pastor and Grijalva are Arizona’s first two Mexican Americans [sic] members of the U.S. Congress. But Torrez ran for Congress before they ran, and also boldly ran against Republican Senator Barry Goldwater.

“‘Lorenzo told us it is time for these majority Latino districts to be represented by a Mexican American,’ said Valencia. ‘He wanted voters to see a Latino name on the ballot.’

“When Pastor declared his candidacy, Torrez rallied the Tucson CP [Communist Party] club to join in the effort. Pastor’s victory in 1991 set the stage for Grijalva’s election in 2002.”

On Sept. 21, 2002, the People’s World published an article headlined “People Gain in Arizona Primaries” by local Communist Party leader Joe Bernick. It dealt mainly with Grijalva’s victory in the recent Democratic Party primary:

“The tireless efforts of hundreds of grassroots volunteers dealt a blow to the corporate establishment here and their attempt to dominate Southern Arizona politics in the Sept. 10 primary election.

“Long-time progressive Raul Grijalva routed seven other candidates to win the Democratic nomination for CD-7, one of Arizona’s two new Congressional seats. …

“As a Pima County Supervisor and Tucson School Board member Grijalva consistently fought for working people’s interests.

“The Grijalva campaign was a textbook example of how to conduct a people’s campaign, beginning with its name: ‘A whole lot of people for Grijalva.’ Hundreds of people came out seven days a week, sometimes twice on Saturday, to wear out tons of shoe leather.

“Grijalva thanked labor for its key support and for ‘putting the union label on me.’ He promised the Southern Arizona Central Labor Council, at its Sept. 12 meeting, to become ‘an extension of the voice of labor in the U.S. Congress.’”

At a meeting of the National Board of the Communist Party USA in South Chicago, on the last weekend of January 2003, an Arizona activist boasted, “Using street heat tactics, all of labor worked to back one candidate Raul Grijalva in Tucson … And we won!”

Tucson Communist Party USA supporter Susan Thorpe confirmed this narrative in an article covering the 2002 Grijalva campaign in an article in People’s World on Nov. 7, 2003, titled “Arizona: Grassroots Can Beat Big Bucks”:

“Nevertheless, here in Tucson, we are gearing up for local elections in 2003 and the presidential election ahead in 2004 by using the same tactics we did in 2002 to get Raul Grijalva elected to Congress. …

“Congressman Raul Grijalva is proving to be a wonderful voice for the people of Arizona. And our movement and those important connections made during his campaign are still alive in Tucson.”

In Congress, Grijalva worked to help the Communist Party USA where he could.

Returning the Favor

According to a 2005 statement by Latinos for Peace (an anti-Iraq War front for the Communist Party USA) published in the Communist Party USA theoretical journal Political Affairs on Oct. 4, 2005: “On Monday September 26 we participated in the peace movement lobby day at the capitol. We met with Rep Raul Grijalva who said he would work to help build our campaign.”

On July 13, 2006, Communist Party USA member Carolyn Trowbridge addressed 14 fellow black-shrouded members of the “peace” group “Raging Grannies” along with 40 supporters. Trowbridge’s speech was followed by “a reading of an antiwar speech” by Grijalva. They then marched to the late Sen. John McCain’s office to “deliver a petition on Iraq demanding an immediate end to the U.S. occupation, the closing of all U.S. military bases and the removal all U.S. mercenaries and corporate involvement,” according to People’s World.

Later that same year, on Nov. 7, Arizona voters became the first in the nation to reject a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. The campaign was led by activist group Arizona Together. Both Arizona state Rep. Kyrsten Sinema and Congressman Grijalva assisted the campaign.

According to Arizona Communist Party leader and Arizona Together activist Joe Bernick, who wrote it up in the People’s World:

“Why Arizona? How come voters in more liberal states have voted for similar hateful laws while conservative Arizona voted no?

“So how did we do it? The answer is: educating, organizing and mobilizing.

“As soon as proponents started circulating petitions to put 107 on the ballot, opponents brought out their own clipboards, signing up thousands of volunteers. Arizona Together emerged as the campaign committee, chaired by progressive state Rep. Kyrsten Sinema.

“Congressman Raul Grijalva appeared on radio ads calling Prop. 107 an attack on working families. The Grijalva campaign worked closely with Arizona Together, using its literature in their extensive door-to-door canvassing.”

Sinema, now the newly elected U.S. senator from Arizona, also has close ties to the Communist Party USA.

On March 29, 2003, Grijalva sponsored and addressed the Third Annual Cesar Chavez Day March and Rally for Peace.

The rally was organized by Tucson Communist Party member and high school teacher Ray Siqueiros, one of the most militant teachers in Tucson. In 2006, Siqueiros was involved in organizing a mass walk-out by Tucson high school students protesting proposed legislation that would classify illegal immigrants as felons. Some of the students waved Mexican flags.

In June 2015, Siqueiros received a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from Grijalva for “valuable service to the community.”

Border Security

In September 2015, the late Sen. John McCain from Arizona introduced legislation (S750) to exempt certain projects from environmental protection laws, in order to better enhance border security.

S750, if passed, “would exclude new surveillance installations and other border patrol activities from environmental protection laws. The bill would apply to federal lands within 100 miles of the U.S.–Mexico border in Arizona and parts of California,” according to People’s World.

Grijalva was apparently willing to work with the Communist Party USA to stop legislation designed to keep America’s borders secure.

Then the senior Democrat in the House’s Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulations, Grijalva fought back against the proposal.

Grijalva spoke at a forum co-sponsored by the Communist Party USA-led Arizona Peace Council, and the Communist Party USA-run Salt of the Earth Labor College, saying he was “confident regarding the ability to defeat S750 provided people stay aware of it and speak out against it.”

According to People’s World, Grijalva said in part: “It’s a two pronged agenda. … Part of the agenda … [is] to end any legislative hope … that we would end up with something semi-rational in terms of comprehensive immigration reform because this bill is about enforcement only—only enforcement. …

“The other agenda is about attacking bedrock environmental laws that have been on the books for 50, 40, 45 years. … It’s both about immigration and the environment and citizen accountability and participation in decision making.”

As today’s Communist Party USA is loyal to Cuba, China, and Venezuela, Grijalva was effectively attempting to aid and abet enemies of the Republic.

The Communist Party USA is the sworn enemy of American capitalism.

Houston Communist Party leader Bernard Sampson wrote only this past September: “We aren’t like other parties. We are a party dedicated to the overthrow of the capitalist class in this country.”

Yet Grijalva has worked with these people for more than 30 years. He is clearly fully on board with the Communist Party USA agenda.

Imagine the damage Grijalva will be able to do to America’s economy, environment, and national security as Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources. Communist Party USA leaders must be rubbing their hands in revolutionary glee.

Americans likely do not realize that elected officials such as Grijalva are not required to undergo any form of background security check before serving on sensitive committees. If they were, Grijalva would certainly fail.

America’s enemies are aware of this loophole and are using it to their advantage.

Trevor Loudon is an author, filmmaker and public speaker from New Zealand. For more than 30 years, he has researched radical left, Marxist, and terrorist movements and their covert influence on mainstream politics.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch

Ending Our Silence: Let No One Named McCain Succeed the Vindictive Maverick

On By AZ ConservativeIn America, Arizona, Elections, McCain, McSally, Media, The Left, U.S. SenateLeave a comment

I was going to hold my tongue about the death of John McCain, but after reading this AP story … well let’s just say the gloves are coming off!

WASHINGTON (AP) — John McCain’s daughter and two former presidents led a public rebuke of President Donald Trump’s divisive politics at the late senator’s memorial service Saturday in a call for a return to civility among the nation’s leaders.

The nearly three-hour service at the Washington National Cathedral was a remarkable show of defiance against a president McCain openly defied in life as the antithesis of the American spirit of service to something greater than any individual.

Standing near McCain’s flag-draped casket and with Trump’s daughter in the audience, Meghan McCain delivered a broadside against the uninvited president without mentioning his name.

“We gather here to mourn the passing of American greatness — the real thing, not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice he gave so willingly, nor the opportunistic appropriation of those who lived lives of comfort and privilege while he suffered and served,” she said, her voice first choking back tears. Then, it rose in anger.

“The America of John McCain,” she added, with a reference to Trump’s trademark phrase, “has no need to be made great again because America was always great.”

The audience of Washington power players erupted in applause.

…

“So much of our politics, our public life, our public discourse can seem small and mean and petty, trafficking in bombast and insult and phony controversies and manufactured outrage,” Obama said in a not-so-veiled nod to Trump. “It’s a politics that pretends to be brave and tough but in fact is born in fear. John called on us to be bigger than that. He called on us to be better than that.”

 

The passing of “greatness” remark is absolutely over the top, ridiculous, laughable and untrue. John McCain did not finish strong or valiantly. He was not the old soldier just fading away. He was petty, vindictive, nasty, insulting, just as he had been during his too many years in Congress. Many Arizonans attempted to recall McCain from office several years ago and for good reason. He was more civil to Democrats Tom Daschle and Barack Obama than to many hard-working, dedicated conservative base members of his own party. To many of his constituents his representation in Washington was invisible.

The Machiavellian McCain was so petty that he once spent nearly $20,000 just to get rid of a conservative chairman in his home legislative district. By God’s grace, he failed in that attempt! He was an inarticulate, ineffective senator who did little to endear himself to the many millions of Americans he regularly insulted. The last two times I saw McCain speak in person, he called loyal Republicans “idiots,” trashed the GOP’s pro-life platform and criticized a group that invited him to speak. McCain destroyed his in-party primary candidates with scorn, vicious mudslinging and disingenuous advertising. For him or his family to speak high and mighty words about civility and greatness is beyond hypocritical! It is insulting.

This past week saw the amazing end of the McCain machine and it’s our hope that the Arizona Republican Party recovers from the stranglehold he held over it and emerges with new, stronger, more respectful and more professional and inspiring leadership. We saw McCain pass from this earth and we saw Martha McSally given the nomination by Republicans to replace him in the Senate. Jeff Flake was a hand-picked puppet; his predecessor Jon Kyl was also controlled by McCain. At long last we are now free of the shackles of the McCain political machine and we pray for better, stronger Republican leadership from our emerging new representation in the U.S. Senate.

We demand that no one named “McCain” be named to finish out his term. We have had enough and it’s time to move on from the McCain Machine.

Senator Flake, You’re No Conservative

On By AZ ConservativeIn Arizona, Congress, Conservatism, McCainLeave a comment

By Newsbusters Staff | August 1, 2017

On Tuesday, August 1, Media Research Center President Brent Bozell issued the following statement: On behalf of my late father and my family, I am denouncing Senator Jeff Flake and his new book, dishonestly titled, Conscience of a Conservative.

Since entering the Senate in 2013, Jeff Flake has, time and again, proven he is part of the indulgent hypocrisy in Washington. While he waxes poetically about conservative principles, his Conservative Review Liberty score is an abysmal 53%, also known as: “F”. In 2013, I watched first-hand as Flake refused to sign a letter pledging to defund ObamaCare, among his many betrayals to conservatism. Jeff Flake is neither a conservative nor does he have a conscience.

As every conservative leader knows, my father, L. Brent Bozell, Jr., ghost-wrote Conscience of a Conservative for Barry Goldwater. While the Goldwater Institute may own the rights to the book’s title, neither the organization nor Senator Flake have the right to unjustifiably trade on my father’s work. Conscience of a Conservative is the greatest selling polemic in history, and Senator Flake is trading on its reputation to shamelessly promote himself and disguise his own conservative deficiencies. My father would be appalled to see this fraud as the author of the so-called “sequel,” which it most certainly is not.

The media need to know, when reporting on Senator Flake and his “book,” that the author is a deceiver out for personal and financial gain.  I also call on my conservative brethren to denounce this impostor, who dishonorably claims to speak for conservatism, in the strongest possible terms.

McCain Kills Obamacare Repeal

On By AZ ConservativeIn McCainLeave a comment

By Tom Howell Jr. – The Washington Times – Friday, July 28, 2017

Drained by self-inflicted wounds, shifting aims and unrelenting protests, Republicans’ push to kill off President Obama’s signature health law sputtered out of gas early Friday, as Senate leaders failed to rally the votes for a significantly pared-down repeal bill in a vote after midnight.

Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who stormed back to Washington after a shocking cancer diagnosis, cast a pivotal “no” vote as three Republicans linked arms with every Democrat to doom the plan.

The vote leaves President Trump without a clear path to repeal and heaps grave doubt on the GOP’s seven-year promise to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, though Mr. Trump quickly pivoted to a new Plan B — “let ObamaCare implode.”
Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska also rejected the plan, though both had balked at GOP efforts earlier in the week, casting Mr. McCain’s vote as the decider.

Mr. Trump took to Twitter after the vote early Friday to declare that “3 Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down. As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!”

Earlier this week the Arizona senator saved Mr. Trump’s push to for repeal, yet he scolded his colleagues over the one-sided process that led to the debate.

Vice President Mike Pence, who was on hand to break a potential tie, huddled on the Senate floor with Mr. McCain and other holdouts for a long time before the vote, but couldn’t change their minds.

“This is clearly a disappointing moment,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, his voice wavering, noting Obamacare’s struggles with high premiums and dwindling choices would live on.

Explaining his vote in a statement early Friday, Mr. McCain said he’d warned colleagues he wanted bipartisanship and would shy away from any GOP-only plan.

“I’ve stated time and time again that one of the major failures of Obamacare was that it was rammed through Congress by Democrats on a strict-party line basis without a single Republican vote. We should not make the mistakes of the past that has led to Obamacare’s collapse,” he said.

He said the bill should be sent back to go through the usual legislative process rather than the speedy budget process that allowed the GOP to avoid a Democratic filibuster.

But Democrats have shown little interest in working toward the GOP’s idea of a total overhaul of Obamacare, instead calling for boosting the government control and taxpayer spending that are at the heat of the 2010 law.

Mr. McConnell said now it’s time for Democrats to offer their ideas, but said “bailing out insurance companies with no thought of any kind of reform, is not something I want to be part of.”

He also pointed to a vote on Thursday that saw Democrats shy away from backing the single-payer “Medicare for all” system that their liberal leaders have called for. Democrats said the vote, orchestrated by Republicans, was a sham.

In the wake of Friday’s vote, Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Democrats were relieved about the health vote, yet refused to spike the football, acknowledging that Obamacare is struggling and will need fixes in relevant committees.

“It did a lot of good things,” he said, “but it needs improvement.”

The 49-51 vote was an embarrassing blow for Senate Republican leaders who earlier this week failed to pass a robust health overhaul or the same “clean” repeal that got through the chamber 18 months ago.

They decided to buy themselves more time Thursday with a pared-down bill, dubbed “skinny repeal,” that they acknowledged was a “fraud” — but which they said they had to pass in order to keep the process alive.

Few seemed happy with idea, which was a far cry from promised or repeal-and-replace that the GOP took to voters ever since 2010, when Democrats muscled their overhaul into law.

Instead, the eight-page repeal the Senate was aiming to pass would leave Obamacare’s economics in shambles, raising the prospect of premium increases for consumers and market disruptions for insurers who prefer certainty.

With no other option alive, however, GOP senators said that was better than admitting failure — and said they would vote to approve it, with the understanding that it never become law.

“The skinny bill as policy is a disaster,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, said. “The skinny bill as a replacement for Obamacare is a fraud.”

Realizing the peril, senators pleaded with House Republicans to agree to a conference committee to keep talking instead of actually passing the plan.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan assured new talks, but it wasn’t enough in the end.

The political fallout was immediate, with Democratic operatives swiftly panning Sens. Dean Heller of Nevada and Jeff Flake of Arizona — the two most vulnerable senators in next year’s cycle — for supporting the plan when other Republicans didn’t.

Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, said the fight wasn’t over, but added that voters who expected a swift repeal had a right to be angry.

“I sadly feel a great many Americans will feel betrayed, that they were lied to,” he said amid a throng of reporters outside the Senate chamber. “And that sentiment will not be unjustified. You cannot campaign against Obamacare and go vote for Obamacare.”

Thursday’s skinny plan would have ditched Obamacare’s unpopular mandate requiring individuals to hold insurance and its rule requiring large employers to provide coverage.

It also would have shifted federal money from Planned Parenthood to community health centers, raised a cap on contributions to tax-advantaged savings accounts to pay for out-of-pocket costs and extended a freeze on Obamacare’s tax on medical device sales for three more years.

“The American people have suffered under Obamacare for too long. It’s time to end the failed status quo,” Mr. McConnell said.

The plan also sought to expand states’ ability to use waivers to abandon Obamacare’s list of mandated benefits, though the Senate parliamentarian flagged the language as incompatible with budget rules, giving Democrats the opportunity to block it.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that 15 million fewer people would hold insurance next year under the plan, slightly rising to 16 million by 2026 — largely because the mandate requiring people to get coverage would go away.

GOP released the bill around 10 p.m., leaving senators and the public less than three hours to review the plan before the vote.

“This process is an embarrassment,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, Connecticut Democrat.

McCain Stabs Americans in Back

On By AZ ConservativeIn McCainLeave a comment

In 2016, conservatives everywhere rallied to defeat the face of the RINO Establishment, John McCain, but we came up short. That failure lives with me every day. With every liberal vote McCain casts, every rotten, backstabbing rebuke of President Trump and the America First agenda, the reminder of what could have been rips my heart out my chest. We should have had an uncompromising conservative who speaks the truth at all times. We could have had a fighter. We could have had a physician, not a typical politician desperately clinging on to power above all.

We could have had someone who would legislate the America First agenda.

We must forget about what could have been and focus on not repeating our huge 2016 mistake.

If you will stand with me, you have my word, I will campaign day and night. I will leave no stone unturned. I will offer my blood sweat and tears to make sure Arizonan’s elect Kelli Ward as our new U.S. Senator in 2018.

We can not afford to elect Mini-McCain, the Sanctuary Senator, Jeff Flake. Please read the letter below and give like you never gave before, so that we never have to regret what could have been. Help me elect Kelli.

Dustin Stockton
Chief Strategist
Ward for Senate

Declaring Sage Grouse Endangered Species Raises Concerns in Arizona

On By AZ ConservativeIn America, Arizona, Big Government, Congress, Freedom, McCain, Radical Environmentalism, The LeftLeave a comment

Big Government calling again. Now it wants to list sage grouse as an endangered species, restricting access to 167 million acres of land. Arizonans are rightly concerned because it could have a huge, detrimental impact on our state. Some of them visited our congressional delegation in Washington, D.C. Here’s the story in the Mogollon Rim News, by Cindy Sietz-Krug; it’s a worthy read.

 

Sen. McCain in Lockstep with Obama on Drafting Women for Combat

On By AZ ConservativeIn America, Arizona, Big Government, Congress, Elections, Freedom, McCain, National Defense, Obama, The Left1 Comment

By Tony Perkins, President
Family Research Council

After the last seven and a half years, it’s safe to say that the greatest threat to our military is the administration in charge of it. The legacy of the Obama administration will not be advancing the war against global jihad, but rather advancing the culture war — which started with the toppling of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and continued on to the latest phase of the military’s sexual revolution: open transgenderism and opening the draft to women. In this administration, gender isn’t just being redefined in bathrooms, but on battlefields, where this president seems all too content to assign America’s wives and daughters to the most dangerous ground combat units in the world.

And unfortunately, he’s had plenty of help. In the Senate, where members are debating the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Navy veteran John McCain (R-Ariz.) gave the effort a helping hand by including an amendment into the bill from three female Republicans, Senators Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), Joni Ernst (Iowa), and Deb Fischer (Nebr.), that would require women to register for selective service — a decision that even his primary challenger couldn’t believe. Dr. Kelli Ward, who’s trying to unseat the longtime senator, is already making McCain’s position a campaign issue. Like most parents, she can’t imagine a nation ordering her child to war. “I have a 20-year-old daughter, Katie, and when I think of her being forced to go into combat, especially in the Middle East against the barbarians who are there. Who are basically salivating at the prospect of getting their hands on our young women… I have no qualms about women who want to volunteer and who want to go and do whatever they want to do in our military — but to force them to a draft is unacceptable in my opinion.”

As a father of three girls, I couldn’t agree more. I will support my daughters if they decide to serve in the military, but I will not stand by if the government tries to draft them in the military. What does it say about a nation that sends its mothers and daughters to fight its battles?

In part, this is all the unfortunate byproduct of opening infantry and other front line positions to women, which Defense Secretary Ash Carter approved earlier this year over the objections of military leaders. When the DOD removes the barriers to women serving in all positions, it removes most barriers to drafting them as well. And while some senators seem either oblivious to the risks or too frightened to fight the political correctness, plenty of conservatives are standing up to the members of both parties who want to use our military as the laboratory for social change.

“I cannot in good conscience vote to draft our daughters into the military, sending them off to war, and forcing them into combat,” Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) argued. Together with Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cruz is doing everything he can to strip the language out of the high chamber’s NDAA. He’ll have the support of more than six dozen conservative leaders, veterans, and activists — including FRC’s Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin (U.S. Army-Ret.). In a letter representing hundreds of thousands of American families, the group urged every member of the Senate to join Mike Lee in pushing back on the real war on women.

“We strongly support the heroic, capable, and honorable women who choose and will serve our country in the military…” the group writes. “There are exceptional women who are capable of meeting or exceeding the combat standards put forth by each branch. We support them as we do all individuals willing to put their lives on the line for the greatest nation in the history of the world. However, the female draft discussion should revolve around combat readiness, efficiency, and national security, and weeding through applicants that are overwhelmingly biologically unable to meet combat standards would be a logistical nightmare and would force the lowering of combat standards. The capabilities of these rare women should not mean all appropriately aged women are involuntarily eligible for combat.”

Not to mention, they write, “Women are not clamoring for this ‘opportunity.’ Only 15 percent of our active-duty military forces are women. We find it demeaning to suggest that women who have instead chosen to serve our nation in other civilian roles — such as manufacturing, commerce, medicine or even caring for their children — are not contributing to our nation. They are indeed!” At the very least, this issue deserves to be a standalone bill, debated out in the open after a thorough and transparent review. Congress needs to decide: Is the military’s goal to be the great societal equalizer — or the most lethal fighting force in the world? Contact Republican Senators Kelly Ayotte (202-224-3324), Joni Ernst (202-224-3254), and Deb Fischer (202-224-6551), and let them know that it’s one thing for our daughters to choose to fight and quite another to force them to.

There’s no Blaming the ‘Establishment’ This Time; We Selected Trump

On By AZ ConservativeIn America, Arizona, Big Government, Conservatism, Constitution, Culture, Depravity, Elections, McCain, Planned Parenthood, Religious Liberty, Socialism, Taxpayers, Ted Cruz, The Left, Uncategorized1 Comment

Once again, conservative Americans feel betrayed and ignored by the Republican “Establishment.” Yet again, we are stuck with a nominee for president who is not with us on the matters we most care about.

In fact, each succeeding GOP presidential candidate now drifts further and further away from the party’s official platform.

Many are pointing the finger at Donald Trump and saying they won’t vote for him. A photoshopped graphic is making a big impact for stating that the Republican Party died in 2016 and the cause of death is Donald Trump.

This is the wrong diagnosis for the problem. Trump won the nomination fair and square. He competed for it and he won it.

We can no longer blame the Republican Establishment. Trump won a majority of state presidential primaries – including Arizona. And a slim majority of Arizonans selected as delegates for the Republican National Convention support Trump. It’s the messages he uses that are cause for concern.

As Dr. Alan Snyder writes here, Republican voters have concluded that morality and integrity, the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution no longer matter. He basically says this is a dismal indication that the Republican platform no longer means beans.

We said the same thing immediately following the Republican primary in 2014. That was when Arizona voters elected a Planned Parenthood supporter as secretary of state. Along with numerous others who, it appears, probably have never read the GOP platform. If they ever did, they came away with nothing from it.

Further, Dr. Snyder wrote:

The Republican voters (and for the sake of brevity, I’ll just assume most were Republicans) have decided that a man who rejects nearly every line in past Republican platforms will be their nominee for president.

In short, the party is the problem. Not the establishment. Republican voters in Indiana, New York and numerous other states chose Trump. It wasn’t Karl Rove pulling all the strings.

The GOP voters also chose Sen. John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012 to run for president. Neither is a platform-based Republican.

So the chickens have come home to roost. And we conservatives had better start articulating the reasons for conservatism’s advantages for society and why it’s the best approach for a healthy vibrant America.

Dr. Michael Brown also voices the same concerns here.

This is not so much an indictment on Trump as it is an indictment on the American people. God could well be giving us exactly what we deserve.

Tens of millions of Americans are not put off by his blatant, well-documented lying.

Tens of millions of Americans are not put off by his consistent practice of vile character assassination for the purpose of political gain.

Tens of millions of Americans are not put off by his vulgarity and profanity.

Tens of millions of Americans are not put off by his ignorance of critical issues and his complete flip-flopping of major positions.

Decent people who believe in Republican, conservative principles are not winning national elections. We must roll up our sleeves and educate the people. Rush Limbaugh asked yesterday who the conservative leader is and who is articulating conservatism. I would argue that it’s Sen. Ted Cruz. But we didn’t convince enough people that he is the logical nominee.

The blame lies with us. We are allowing the things that the Donald Trumps and the Michele Reagans, and others, believe in to emerge within our own party. We must do better. We must do, as conservative Bill Whittle says, a much better job of articulating our principles and why they serve America better than any other.